A new type of facility is being planned for Shenzhen: A Finance Cultural Center (FCC). Combining a Museum, a Trading platform, and a large multifunctional Auditorium, the FCC aims at providing a place of history, creativity, and invention: we call it the Chance Meeting of Finance with Culture, Nature, and the Future.

The Finance Culture Center is one of three important Cultural institutions interacting with one another so as to generate a new urban dynamic. It was crucial to us that the Finance Cultural Center express a clarity of purpose. Its location at the intersection of two major axes of Shenzhen made us select a round configuration, equally visible from all sides.

By lifting the main volume off the ground, we simultaneously provide a strong urban presence and a transparent relationship with the adjacent park. The circular geometry elegantly relates to all parts of the environment, whether the waterways nearby or the tall buildings in the background.

The envelope is patterned with abstractions of the digits 0 and 1, alluding to the digitalization of culture and finance. The 15 types of configurations and combination of patterns create a dynamic expression of the architecture. With LED lighting, the envelope highlights the unique identity of the Finance Culture Center as it integrates into the urban environment. more

The internal organization of the building is simultaneously about concept and experience. We invented a new concept whereby the intersection of three spectacular interior spaces results in a new type of experience: a diagonal for finance, a horizontal for culture, and a vertical for the future.

Landscape was important for us. The three silo-like interior spaces all originate from the lush landscape that we designed on the ground. A fertile dialogue is established between above and below ground facilities. The distribution of functions is simple and clear. From top to bottom: Trading, Museum, (Business Management), Ground Floor Lobby and Landscape, Lower-Level Auditorium and Conventions.

The nearly 4000-seat auditorium is organized as a multifunctional flat-floor (2500 seats) and a raised balcony (1250 seats). The flat-floor area can be equally used for conventions, banquets, and performances.

All parts of the center are accessible from the main ground lobby. A secondary lobby below ground serves the convention part of the center. The main vertical movements are as follows: main escalator from the ground floor lobby to the museum floor; several elevator nodes, including the spectacular elevator to the future, connect the different parts of the building; and stair-ramps connecting the different floors (inside the diagonal atrium space).

The circular configuration of the Museum may recall ancient Chinese perforated coins, early financial history, and aspiration to the future. back

Credits

SCHEDULE
International Invited Competition, 2020
SIZE
545,000 sq. feet (50.000 m2)
BUDGET
N/A
CLIENT
Shenzhen Municipality
TEAM
Lead Designer: Bernard Tschumi. Key personnel: Joel Rutten, Nianlai Zhong, Sonia Grobelny, Valeria Paez Cala, Wenjun Yu, Guillermo Hevia García, Alex Hudtwalcker Rey, Christopher Ball, Kai Blatt
Local Architects and Engineers : Tianjin Architecture Design Institute (TADI) back

Program: Cultural